27 Challenge – mission accomplished!!

Months of preparation, arduous training and meticulous logistical organisation came to a climax in Limassol, Cyprus this morning as Maltese athlete Nathan Farrugia completed his 27th marathon in as many days.

Since setting off from Malta on 11 September, he has been running a full 42.2Km marathon every day in a different EU city. In total he has run a distance of 1140Km which is equivalent to running in a straight line from Malta to Rome.

"It's a fantastic feeling to have made it", he exclaimed while catching his breath at the finish line on 28th October Avenue in Limassol.

The Kinder European Endurance Challenge was conceived by Nathan with the support of international confectionery brand Ferrero, to spread a message of solidarity while raising funds to support charity projects in Malta as well as every other country that provided local support along the way. Some 32,000 Euro have so far been collected and more donations are expected over the coming days as the challenge has now been successfully completed. Donations from Malta are being transferred in full with no deductions to Inspire and the Daniel Delicata Memorial Association.

Over the 27 days Nathan gathered a substantial following on Facebook and his endeavour was covered by various national and regional media in different countries. Supporters tracked his progress via Garmin GPS tracking and followed his daily blog and video messages on the website 27challenge.com. Messages of support flowing in from all quarters encouraged him to persevere and complete the challenge, especially when faced with all sorts of adversity. Difficulties included the theft of vital equipment from the camper van on day 2 in Estonia, a painful leg injury that developed on day 10, a problem with border control in Romania and a general strike in Greece that threatened to delay the final marathon in Cyprus today.

Donations can be made on the website 27challenge.com or through SMS by sending a text message with the word "27" to 50618 926 to donate €6.99 or on 50619 215 to donate €11.65.

Nathan is arriving back in Malta on flight KM2107 from Larnaca, tomorrow at 2 p.m.

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